


Fragments

by Yuppu



Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Spoilers for the third movies, mention of suicidal thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-09-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 04:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 6,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1805626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuppu/pseuds/Yuppu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired to the <a href="http://30dayotpchallenge.deviantart.com/journal/30-Day-OTP-Challenge-LIST-325248585">30 Days OTP Challenge</a> with a few minor tweaks for prompts that would not render as well in a fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Holding Hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jesuisherve](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesuisherve/gifts), [Arwen88](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arwen88/gifts).



Barney has let their relationship seep through at various stages of drunkenness and through various acts of semi-intimacy. Kisses and hand-holding in public, though, are still out of the question for the most part. There is some modesty behind that, because those used to be moments for when the rest of the world was too distracted to hurl slurs and insults at them for nothing more than a simple gesture.  
But in the semi-darkness of that pub, relieved of everyone's look by the blaring television, Barney goes right for Gunnar's hand, to guide him outside and keep him company for a smoke. And nobody does even so much as to look at them funny.


	2. Cuddling Somewhere

They don’t _cuddle_. Cuddles in and on themselves are not something Gunnar and Barney are used to. They are not cuddly people. There are times, when Gunnar gets clingy and rubs his head against Barney’s neck and shoulders, that it may almost look like they are cuddling. Barney is not really an active part in that, though. And Gunnar is mostly too busy sniffing the other man’s smell to further the _cuddling_ with their clothes on. Cuddles are not something they do. Weird, cuddly foreplay on a sunday evening, that’s something they can reason with.


	3. Watching a Movie

Gunnar is absolutely the worst kind of spectator. He grows restless in a matter of minutes. He puffs and snorts and keeps shifting in his seat. He starts mumbling. Then he starts talking. And before Barney can do anything about it, he’s gone to shouting and yelling against the people on screen, about how stupid that choice was or how stab wounds don’t do those things and holy shit why would you take the knife out you idiot, don’t you know you’ll bleed out?  
Gunnar has been blacklisted by most theaters in New Orleans and Barney has made his peace with it because he never really liked going to the movies anyway.  
However, summer drive-ins are something they both enjoy. Something about the privacy of one’s own car and Barney being able to concentrate even through a blowjob.


	4. On a Date

Date night.   
Barney never thought they would find themselves on a date night, but there they are. Granted they’re mostly there to scout the place and see if it really is a mob nest and they can hit there to get their paycheck.  
But Gunnar cleans up real nice and seeing him clean and well dressed might be affecting Barney a little too much.  
Not that Gunnar minds, he loves seeing that look in Barney’s eyes, when he feels like he’s about to be jumped and not in the bad way.  
But they have to stay and look the part, they can’t escape to the toilets for a good half-hour then go back home and make it a good night.  
“So… done anything new recently?” Barney asks, shifting lightly in his seat.  
Gunnar silently enjoys seeing him impatient, but he managed to be disciplined for the night, maybe thinking up ways to strain him even further.  
“Not much… still trying to figure out my new phone, but I can’t seem to make a sense of it…”  
“Well you did crush the old one, so you don’t have much choice.”  
“It’s your fault for throwing my pants on the ground, how was I supposed to know where not to step in the morning?” He chuckled, enjoying Barney’s flustering more than he probably should. He’s definitely having fun.  
“Well maybe I’ll end up throwing them on the floor again.”  
“Is that a threat?” There are times when Barney not only stands up to Gunnar flirting, but he can one up him out of his pants. None of those times Gunnar was seen wearing anything even close to semi-formal.  
Barney scoffs and takes a sip from his glass, thankfully catching a glimpse of their target crossing the restaurant. “I think we found what we were looking for…”  
Gunnar looks sideways, following Barney’s glare. “Did we? I thought we already knew where my pants' fly was…”  
Caught off guard, Barney chokes on his drink and Gunnar looks perfectly accomplished, with a smug grin on his mug.  
“‘swear to God, Gunnar…”  
“Should we call a cab?” He proposes, calling up a waiter.  
Although frustrated and annoyed, Barney can’t find it in himself to refuse.


	5. Kissing

Lazy mornings are a rare blessing and Gunnar always tries to make the best of them. Refusing to get off of Barney is always is first step to make sure he can fully enjoy them. And Barney always lets him, with a resigned sigh and a kiss on his lips. They always taste like the night before, on those mornings. Sometimes they taste like beer and a smoke and sometimes they taste like rough sex and too much booze. Whichever it is, it’s never really unpleasant. As per script, Barney complains about Gunnar’s weight crushing him down and how they both need to go brush their teeth or at least go and have a cup of coffee, but it’s a song and a dance they know and secretly love.  
Whichever aftertaste they have, those lazy morning kisses taste like much needed peace and they couldn’t have enough if they tried.


	6. Wearing Eachothers' Clothes

When they started wearing each other’s clothes, it was for necessity. Gunnar had worn out all of the clothes he had with him and rather than buying new ones, he discovered Barney’s stuff fit him. Barney filled them in girth and Gunnar did in length. The same shirt looked different depending on who was wearing it so nobody really noticed for the longest time. Eventually all their clothes stopped being _Barney’s_ and _Gunnar’s_ , they just stopped trying to separate them altogether and they've been sharing wardrobe for the past twenty years at least.   
So seeing everyone, one by one, squinting and staring at Barney’s shirt is kind of unusual for a night out with the team.  
Completely oblivious to what the matter is, he puts down his beer. “What’s the matter?”  
The team looks briefly at Gunnar who does not give a shit and a half just as he does, then back to Barney.  
“Wasn't Gunnar wearing that shirt yesterday?” Lee finally asked and the two of them just glanced at each other and shook their head with half a laughter.


	7. Dressing Up as Someone Else

Barney has always been vocal against going undercover where it was less than absolutely necessary. He likes to keep things straight forward, it doesn’t mess with anyone’s mind and everything always go as you expect it to go. It’s unlikely things will go sideways if you don’t allow them to and he always felt that undercover missions were troubles waiting to happen.  
However, they are now stuck in Germany, waiting to sneak into a military base to retrieve half of their objectives, and the dreaded unplanned undercover job has been proposed. Everybody tried speaking over one another to avoid _potentially threatening situations_ and Barney has gotten so far as to miss Trench Mouse just to have someone who speaks German go and do the thing.  
“I can go, I speak German.” Gunnar shrugs and a moment of absolute terror follows.  
“... are you absolutely sure?”  
“I have to get in, pick up our stuff and get out, what shouldn't I be sure about?”  
“You do know you can’t shoot anyone in there, right?” Caesar puntualizes and Gunnar pulls a face.  
“It wouldn't even be funny, those krauts are nowhere near combat-ready. It’s no fun shooting someone if nobody is ready to shoot you back.”  
Toll Road mutters something, burying his face in his hand, and Barney tries hard not to sigh.  
“We’ll need to prepare and come back tomorrow, we need to get you a passable badge at least.” He says, as the team already heads back to the temporary HQ.

In the morning, the absence of Gunnar’s snoring alerts everyone that something’s not quite right. One by one they wake up, looking for the huge Swede, but he’s nowhere to be found. Until he marches in in full German uniform and Barney could swear his heart just did a backflip.  
“I was bored, so I ambushed a guy before he could go in. This shit itches.” Gunnar says, scratching his neck, and all the composure he mustered just a second ago crashes and burns.  
Somehow, seeing Gunnar is still Gunnar gives the whole team some relief.  
The plan is brushed up once more for safety and Barney pulls Gunnar aside before he goes. “When this is all over, could you…?” He coughs, embarrassed.  
Gunnar gives him a bovine stare, completely oblivious as to how seeing him in uniform has affected Barney. “... I guess I could, if I knew what I should?”  
“Look, just don’t ditch the uniform after, ok?” Barney mumbles, trying to mask his embarrassment and failing gloriously.  
Gunnar finally gets it and grins like an idiot. “Well look at you discovering kinks, I should go undercover more often!” He snickers, pulling him in for a kiss to stop any attempt at complaining.

Surprisingly, Gunnar does pull it off without shooting anyone, in the end.


	8. Shopping

Barney usually does the shopping on his own because he knows, he just _knows_ , that Gunnar has no self control in regards of making impromptu additions to the list. Last time he went shopping on his own, he came back with a whole salmon. _A whole salmon_. That’s all they ate for a week and then some. They may have some left in the back of the freezer and the thought alone is enough to make Barney shudder.  
So now Barney has barred Gunnar from buying more than cigars and cigarettes or a dozen donuts at once.  
But when they have to go shopping for clothes, Barney can't go alone and he has to take Gunnar along at Costco and the struggle begins.  
Avoiding the food department is fucking mission impossible. As far away Barney tries to stay from there, he _knows_ that at some point Gunnar will emerge with a bucket of red vines or a wholesale pack of assorted gummies or a 10 Kg chocolate bar.  
He’s done it in the past and since he has no shame whatsoever, Barney just knows that Gunnar will do it again instead of picking some fucking shirts and pants and stop complaining about the one he chose.  
And as predicted, ten minutes in and Gunnar is gone and Barney is already tempted to just leave without him.  
He sighs deeply and just grabs every flannel shirt their size in sight, enough work pants to dress a small army, socks and underwear and-  
“BARNEY BARNEY LOOK LET’S BUY THIS IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Gunnar thunders, hidden behind an entire crate of beef jerky he apparently decided it’s his favorite.  
“No it’s not, you like that teriyaki shit from that godforsaken brand that costs like a fucking liver transplant, go put it back. Now.”  
“BUT IT’S ONLY A BIT OVER TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS.”  
“Goddamnit Gunnar I’m not spending more than two hundred dollars on a crate of generic brand jerky.”  
Gunnar lowers the crate to look at Barney, pouting like a gigantic five-year-old. “Cheapskate. I can pay for it myself, you know?”  
“I know, but it won’t fit in the car and even if it did it would not fit anywhere at home.”  
“Not true.”  
“If you put it back I’ll take you to IKEA.”  
Barney barely manages to finish his sentence that Gunnar is zooming away to put the crate back.  
It’s going to be a long day of shopping.


	9. Hanging out with friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not quite what the prompt called for, but hey, that' what came out so peace

At some point or another, everyone in the team has walked in on Gunnar and Barney fucking at least once when they should have been with everyone else. Statistically, one beer round in four is interrupted by them disappearing and someone naively going to check on them. Some react better, like Tool, who is so used to it he just tells them to wait until they’re home next time, or Toll Road, who settled to make them pay his next therapy session. Some react a little worse, like Caesar, who ends up complaining and full-on _whining_ in disgust because that’s verbatim ‘ _worse than seeing my parents go at it in the middle of the living room_ ’, or Yang, who claims such a view grants him the right to a better cut because he’s not paid enough to deal with that stuff. Lee is the worst, as it is his personal conviction that Gunnar and Barney get caught by him on purpose, just to leave him scarred, because why the fuck else would they be screwing in a public place where he also is? He has bitched and moaned and full on yelled about it and though it happened just once - _the lucky bastard, say his teammates_ \- if he’s in the mood to complain about _anything at all_ with Barney, he will play the ‘ _I saw you two shagging that one time it was disgusting_ ’ card. And Barney will let him because it got really old really fast and he is too old for this shit.  
One thing is absolutely certain: now that the new kids are on the team, Gunnar can’t wait to see what they are made of. He’s going to get them. And Barney is going to let him try.


	10. Playing in the snow

They've been on enough missions to know when shit might get dangerous real quick and when they can relax a little. They’re going back to the plane after completing their objective and this is when they can relax. The air is chilly and the fresh snow almost crackles as their feet sink in and it’s nice enough for once walking around a place that looks like it just popped out of a Christmas card. And Barney cannot ignore how happy Gunnar looks, surrounded by the stuff he always says he misses the most about Sweden, so he just decides to let go.  
He stops for a second to gather a handful of snow, and Lee stops too to make sure he’s alright, just to find out his leader decided to go back to being five and he’s making a snowball.  
“You're not serious, are you?”  
“Like a heart attack.” He chimes, with a crooked smile, before aiming the snowball right at Gunnar’s head.  
The Swede loses his balance mid-step and falls face-first in the snow with an audible _thud_.  
Gunnar straightens back up, almost offended, but when he sees Barney bent over laughing, he just starts laughing too. “You're gonna pay for this, Barney!”  
“Good luck with that!” He laughs, zooming for the woods, but Gunnar’s legs gives him enough advantage to tackle him right into the snow.  
Lee just scoffs, resigning to the fact that they're going to have to wait to go home until those two calm down a little.  
“You demented men-children…” He shakes his head, before being hit in the face by a stray snowball.


	11. Sharing a cab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and all chapters after this are for Harvey and Arwen whose birthdays are today and tomorrow, so happy birthday to you both you awesome creatures

Gunnar is definitely too drunk to drive his own bike safely and judging by the looks of him, Barney deems it completely possible that if he were to give him a ride, Gunnar would fall off at the first corner.  
“Come on, big boy, let’s get a cab, ‘kay?” Barney says, as he lifts him up from his chair.  
Gunnar just nods and he lets himself be dragged outside without a word. Barney knows this as his _drunken deep thought_. He just knows Gunnar is going to come up with a very serious question and then forget the answer because of all the booze.  
The question won’t come out though and Gunnar just looks mildly nauseated and tired as fuck until the last crossing before home. He tries to speak, with his stomach in a knot and an awful case of cottonmouth.  
“Barney?”  
“Yeah.” Barney recognizes this as unusual behavior, but he hopes it’s just because he’s tired.  
“Why did you tell me we were done with everyone else instead of telling me at home? Wasn’t it important enough to tell me specifically? Shouldn’t you have at least given me a heads up?”  
The questions hit Barney like a battering ram at the stomach and he struggles to find an acceptable answer, but soon they’re home and it does not matter much because Gunnar leaves the cab like it’s on fire.  
Barney tries to follow him after nearly throwing his money at the cabbie, still incapable of finding the right answer for all of that.  
“Gunnar-”  
“Everyone else had something to say but me. Did you seriously think that it meant I accepted that? That I could just move on and that avoiding home altogether before flying off was the best thing you could do?”  
“I’m sorry, Gunnar, I- what do you want me to say? I fucked up. I’m sorry, I was afraid that facing you would convince me to involve you and the rest of the team and I did not want that!”  
Gunnar scoffs and with impressive precision for his drunken aim, he manages to get the key in the lock right away.  
“And you had the gall to tell me I should not drink after you left me without a word.” He growls, before marching right to their bedroom and locking himself in.  
Barney doesn’t even try to follow him, feeling too sick to face him.


	12. Making out

When Gunnar leaves the bedroom the next morning, the silence in the house is downright awful. Not a single sound, not even Barney’s regular breathing from the living room.  
And not hearing him in the house after their last arguments makes Gunnar both angry and nauseous. After telling him explicitly that him leaving without a word was the cause he started drinking again, Barney still left, without a word.  
With the pick-up keys gone, Gunnar grows cold with rage and calls up a cab to go pick up his bike and go at Tool’s to see if he knows where Barney is.  
He still has to dismount when he sees the pick-up and it takes all he has not to smash the damn thing.  
He enters Tool’s garage uninvited and Tool still looks at him as if he were his Lord Savior. “Thank God you’re here, I didn't know what to do with Barney anymore.”  
“He’s here?”  
“And he’s drunk as shit, I don’t even understand what the fuck he’s saying, he said you were gonna leave him for sure and he deserves it and he should have died-”  
Gunnar does not let him finish and he goes straight for the back room, where the pitiful sight of Barney bent over the table greets him.  
Barney barely makes out who entered and through the haze of ten too many drinks he doesn't even know if he can trust his eyes. “Gunnar-”  
The Swede’s fist slams against his cheekbone so hard that before he reaches the floor, Barney has sobered up although his reflexes are badly hindered by the booze.  
“Don’t you EVER leave like that again. Do you know what it does to me when you leave me like that? It _kills_ me, you shithead. Every time you leave without telling me and you wish death upon yourself and I hear it you might as well have stabbed be through the heart, how have you not understood this after thirty goddamn years? You have always been the only constant in my life, you did not really leave me even when you kicked me off the team but now that you started it’s like you can’t stop doing that!”  
“Gunnar, I-”  
“No, you listen to me, you should not have rather died, you should not even have left without me in the first place, but you did and now it’s behind us and I have a right to be pissed at you for it, because I am the unreliable son of a whore between you and me and still there was one and only one occasion you could not trust me, so if the unreliable son of a whore is capable of restricting his untrustworthiness into one single goddamn occasion, how many times should the much-better-adjusted team leader be untrustworthy?” He almost yells, his heart beating so hard it almost hurts as he waits for an answer.  
Barney looks at him without replying and Gunnar gets even angrier at that. “TELL ME.”  
“None…” Barney sighs.  
“DO YOU REALIZE THAT IN THE ARC OF LESS THAN EIGHTY HOURS I SERIOUSLY THOUGHT OF KILLING MYSELF TWICE BECAUSE I THOUGHT I HAD LOST YOU?”  
Barney pushes himself to his feet and he forces himself to walk up to Gunnar and just hold him in his arms. Much to his and Gunnar’s surprise, he doesn't push him away.  
“Don’t leave me again…” Gunnar almost whispers, almost panting after his outburst, and he reciprocates Barney’s grip.  
“I won’t, I won’t ever leave you like that again…” Barney pulls him down again to push his forehead against his.  
Gunnar sighs in exasperation and relief before going for a kiss and then another and before Tool can check in on them, they’re half-undressed and full-on making up against the wall and, in the end, Tool can’t do anything but close the door and leave them to burn off the pent up stress they’d been under.


	13. Eating ice cream

Every summer, Gunnar claims it is the hottest summer ever and he won’t survive and can’t possibly do so on a hot diet. So by extension, Barney ends up cooking and eating exclusively food that can be consummated cold.  
But mostly, since cooking creates heat and heat is highly undesirable in summer, they end up eating every quality of ice cream known to man. Gunnar’s favorite thing to do is dig into a tub until he feels the bottom with the spoon, Barney is more of a klondike-guy but he’ll make an exception and be contented with eating straight from the tub too - provided that it is because he and Gunnar are watching tv and Gunnar mindlessly shoves the spoon in his mouth in between spoonfuls.


	14. Always-a-girl!verse

Gudrund Jensen is not a morning person, especially not when she wakes up to a cold bed and Barbara is not in sight.  
She stretches and moans softly in protest to being left alone, before actually leaving the bed to join Barb in the kitchen while she’s fixing breakfast.  
Barb almost jumps as the Swede’s cool hands find their way through her shirt’s sleeves and end up on her tits.  
“‘Morning…” Gudrund coos, finding some order in the world now that she can grope her wife a little, but Barb sighs in frustration.  
“Hon, I have to cook, I really don’t want to end up elbowing you, it’s too early and you’re still sleepy and if I elbow you then you will take-”  
“Blah, words…” Gudrund grunts and she resigns herself to go sit. “Can we get a job soon? I’m starting to get bored…”  
“I’ll ask Tool, but I thought you were happy to know our fridge is fully stocked and neither of us has a reason to wear a bra.”  
“... for approximately how long?”  
“Like a week, if we really go antisocial.”  
“Forget Tool, we’re not leaving the house and no boob will be constrained for the whole duration of this week. Deal?”  
“I’m the one who proposed the deal…” Barb chuckles, splitting the scrambled eggs between their plates.  
“Then it’s official, we have ourselves a free-boob party.”


	15. Walking around the house in underwear

Sundays that feel like Sundays are a rare things but nothing gives the sense of it more than lounging around all morning with no pants on. Any other day, Barney would at least put on sweatpants, even if they’re not going anywhere, but on Sundays when they’re not working? Pants stay off, much to Gunnar’s delight.  
There will never be a moment when he’s not more than happy to see Barney’s ass walking around in tight whities.  
Much less considering that after more than thirty years, he still considers that ass to be a work of art.


	16. Arguing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking the liberty to skip some prompts because I can.

“You’re not seriously taking his side on this, are you?” Gunnar’s voice is loud and kind of shaky, a little high-pitched like it always is when shit is about to go down.  
Barney just dumps the dufflebag on the floor, tense. “You pulled a gun on Trench, Gunnar, I keep telling you, if you want me on your side you need to stop with this shit.” He says, trying his best to keep it together, but it’s hard with Gunnar shaking and sweating for the withdrawal and after the closest thing he ever had to a brother growled in his face to keep his bitch on a shorter leash if he can’t just leave him home. It was humiliating and Barney doesn't like to be made a fool of. Especially not because of something he did not do.  
Gunnar shuffles his feet nervously, trying to get Barney on his side still, to make him see. “He provoked me, what was I supposed to do?!”  
“So you fell for it like a fucking moron, then! You need to start ignoring him, Gunnar, he’s an asshole, he’ll keep trying to piss you off so long as he keeps breathing!”  
“Then why are you yelling at me, he’s the fucking five-year-old!”  
“Because he did not threaten you, you cannot physically threaten him to get him to stop, he’s on our team, we need him on our team!”  
The longer the conversation goes on and the harder it is for both of them to keep from panting like dogs on a chain, each heavied down by their on conviction.  
“Then what do you want me to do, huh? Just give in, let him shit on me?”  
“I want you to stop being such a psychopathic fuck, Gunnar!” Barney has yet to finish the sentence and he already regrets it.  
The air around them is suddenly heavy and dense and for a moment time seems to stand still.  
Gunnar looks as if Barney just backhanded him. He can forget easily anything that anyone else says about him, but he can’t take this from Barney. Barney is supposed to be there for him, always. To be the one that believes in him and knows that ultimately he’s not a psychopathic fuck.  
Gunnar storms out before Barney can stop him, sick at the realization that if Barney thinks he is one, then he really is.  
Barney tries to keep up, but it’s no use, Gunnar is on his bike and riding off to God knows where before he can do anything to stop him.


	17. And making up afterwards

Barney can only sit on his ass and feel like a piece of shit while he waits for Gunnar to come home. He’s exhausted and nauseated and he just wants to punch himself. Gunnar hasn’t been on the team long enough, he already knew he’d have to be the one Gunnar could count on to find a new balance and work with the team instead of tagging along. And now he failed him and he kicked in the door for all his demons to take over Gunnar. It is not fair, he should not have done that.  
He keeps clicking his lighter, waiting for the rumble of Gunnar’s bike to pull up the driveway. He half wanted to go and look for him, but the thought of looking and searching and not being able to find him twists his stomach into knots.  
Also, he’s afraid to find him only to have Gunnar spit in his face and tell him to stay the fuck away from him. He can’t have that either, he’d rather wait for two days and have Gunnar come back on his own than go to him and discover he’s just pushed him away for good.  
Five years they’ve been together and now he doesn’t even know if Gunnar is actually going to come home at some point.  
He can’t say how long he’s been sitting and waiting, before finally hearing the keys open the lock. He nearly jumps to his feet to go greet him, but when he actually sees him, it’s like his legs turned into solid concrete. He just stands there, his stomach aching and his hands shaking. “... hey.”  
Gunnar stares at him for a moment and he looks like he needs all the support in the world just to stand on his own. He looks like shit, he has a shiner, Barney could swear his eyes are swollen for a whole other reason than a punch.  
“I’m not a psychopathic fuck.” He mumbles, his voice almost breaking half-way through.  
“No you’re not, I was a dick.”  
Gunnar gives a half nod and Barney feels even worse for a second, because he knows, he sees that Gunnar does not believe a single word either of them has spoken since he got home. He still thinks he is a psychopathic fuck and that Barney is right and that he’s going to just give up on him soon enough, just like everyone else always did and this is killing him.  
Barney can’t stand for that and he won’t. He manages to cover the distance between them and grabs him in a tight hug, tight enough to hurt, but also tight enough for Gunnar to know he’s not going to let go.  
“You’re not a psychopathic fuck, Gunnar, I never really thought you were. I was angry and I was wrong and you-”  
“I acted like one.” Gunnar murmurs, hugging Barney back as hard as he can, terrified to see him dissolve into thin air and leaving him. “I don’t want to act like that, I’ll stop doing shit, I promise, just don’t-”  
“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, Gunnar, I swear.” He sighs. He doesn’t care if Gunnar is serious, right now. He should, because that shit Gunnar keeps poisoning himself with makes him a hot-headed, trigger happy asshole that pulls guns on his own team, but right now he’s just happy that he is back and that he wants to stay.  
This right here, this man he’s holding onto is his Gunnar and he’s back for him and they can figure out their shit some other time.  
Right now they just need some time to heal from this.


	18. Gazing into each other's eyes

For the longest time, Gunnar’s idea of heaven was that of an aseptic, all-white room, kind of like a private clinic of some sort, at the entrance of which he would have been stopped and stared at for a while, before he was deemed unworthy and directed at hell. He has long since put those thoughts aside, since he still knows heaven is no place for him. But he managed to find heaven anyway, before anyone could take it away. The sound of Barney’s regular breaths in his sleep, the smell of old cigars and sweat and wet dog that filled that bedroom for as long as he can remember, the way the streetlight redesigns Barney’s profile in the night, it is all a part of his heaven.  
Gunnar holds onto that as hard as he can, somehow remembering concepts and lines from sunday mornings in church with his parents.  
 _O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed._  
“‘you still awake?” Barney mutters, opening only one eye to look at him. He’s evidently tired and he’s more than half-asleep, but Gunnar takes it as somewhat of a sign from God. That is his heaven and the only one he’ll ever have.  
“Did I wake you up?” He murmurs, pulling closer to Barney, almost apologetic.  
“That’s ok, I woke myself up…” Barney sighs, losing himself in his eyes. “... are you alright, kid?”  
“Just having troubles getting some shuteye, I’ll sleep in tomorrow…”  
Barney runs his fingers through his hair, admiring for just a second how the blue of his eyes still shows in the yellowish light from outside. “Try sleeping now instead… you need to sleep more…”  
Gunnar lets himself be caressed for a while longer, staring into Barney’s eyes to find that light that he claimed as his own, before lowering his head onto his chest. “Maybe you’re right, I should…”  
“‘course I’m right, I did not get this old to be wrong, y’know?”  
Gunnar finds heaven in the way Barney lifts him up from his worries with just half a joke and chuckles lightly, finally finding some peace to sleep.


	19. Getting married

“Let’s get remarried.”  
Barney lifts his glance from the tv screen to look at Gunnar as if he proposed to get matching tramp stamps. “What for? We’re already legally married.” He reminds him, just to see the Swede shrug at that.   
“Just because? We don’t have to do all the legal stuff all over. Just like a ceremony. For the anniversary or something.” Gunnar tries, as he plops himself on the couch and stretches out to Barney’s lap.  
“Maybe that wouldn’t be bad, but you don’t ever plan shit for anniversaries and birthdays so what’s up, really?”  
“I wanted a second honeymoon.”  
“You know I would have agreed without another wedding before, Gun.”  
“I wanted a location wedding.”  
“We _did_ have a location wedding, you dingus, we got married in Stockholm.”  
Gunnar lets out a frustrated moan and tries nuzzling against Barney’s crotch to get him to let go, but Barney pulls him away by the collar of his shirt.  
“Just spit it out already! What is it? Don’t tell me you’re pregnant, I’m too old to raise a baby.” Barney tries playing around to see if Gunnar will finally open up.  
“I just wanted the new kids to see, ok?” He pouts, and Barney knows that when he says _the new kids_ he actually means _Galgo_. And now he understands.  
“Well, that is nice actually… where were you thinking?”  
With Barney not questioning his motive anymore, Gunnar relaxes again and he tries to find a more comfortable position splayed across his legs. “I was thinking Thailand for a week or two?”  
“Yeah, we can definitely do that…” Barney runs his fingers across his hair and for the first time he sees silver streaks in the midst of his blond hair and he can’t help but love the fact that the beautiful, dumb, jealous kid he fell for a lifetime ago grew into a still beautiful, still dumb and still jealous old man who still feels he has to lay claim to him or someone else will steal him. As dumb an idea it seems, it warms his heart like nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, I've written them getting married like three times already, I think that's enough without actually doing it again.


	20. Doing something ridiculous

“Barney, look-”  
“Gunnar, we’re not taking home a dozen pups and their mother just because you found them, put them where you found them or so God help me.” Barney warns, without even turning around because he can hear the puppies squeal and squirm in the arms of the big Swede. Also, he hears the panting of the mother and he heard her claws clicking on the plane’s floor as Gunnar guided her in and Barney knows Gunnar has a soft spot the size of Antarctica for dogs.  
Gunnar frowns so hard that Toll Road almost thinks he’s going to break his brow.   
“Since when are you heartless?”  
“Since I started calculating how much crap they’re going to leave around the house.”  
“I’ll clean after them.”  
“You don’t clean after yourself, Gunnar, I find it very hard to believe you’d clean after Lady and the little tramps there.”  
The rest of the team start making their way on the plane, confused at the sniper standing in the way with an armful of tiny dogs and a fully-grown dog leaning against his legs.  
“Puppies!” Is the most enthusiastic reaction they get, as Mars carefully picks one up from the pile and Gunnar is about this close to bite him and tell him to put it back.  
“Are we getting puppies for a job well done?” Asks Luna, who could honestly do without.  
“Are we getting puppies?!” Thorn chimes in and Barney looks back at the teammates picking puppies from Gunnar’s arms. He sighs and looks at Christmas, who looks maybe a little too amused by the whole situation.  
Truthfully, he was about to complain about the dogs stinking up the plane, but then everything got suddenly very entertaining.  
“What are you looking at me for, they’re your kids.”  
“Why do I even bother making enemies with a friend like you…” He shakes his head, before looking Gunnar square in the eyes. “We’re keeping the mother and ONE puppy, Gunnar, the rest go to everyone else, one each.”  
“But they’re mine.”  
“Gunnar, we keep one each or nobody gets any dog at all, last offer.”  
Gunnar frowns even harder, but then keeps his favorite from the enormous litter and lets everyone else pick among the others. At the end, he marches to the cockpit to drop the last one out in Lee’s lap.  
“What-”  
“You heard the boss, everyone gets one so I can get one.” He says, before disappearing in the back again.  
Lee gives Barney a dirty look that would cut through a wall, but Barney is so pleased with himself that he doesn’t care at all.

Unfortunately, Barney miscalculated the puppies age, so they have to keep the mother and all of the puppies until they’re weaned. And also everyone on the team visits at least once a day to check on their selected puppy so they only have privacy at night anymore.  
On the bright side, Gunnar is so preoccupied with the dogs he doesn’t even bother looking for a drink.   
What do you know, pet therapy seems to work.


End file.
